House Minority Leader Kathleen Dillingham is sponsoring two bills to change how marijuana is regulated in Maine in hopes of destigmatizing the drug and recognizing its ability to ease chronic pain.
The 51-year-old Oxford Republican, now serving her last term, said the death of a friend by suicide prompted her to examine the state’s regulations around the use of marijuana by someone who received a worker’s compensation settlement.
Dillingham said her friend was seriously injured in a workplace accident and was in constant pain. He was told if he ever had marijuana in his system, he would lose his settlement.
“He didn’t like having to take prescription meds to deal with constant pain,” she said. “He wanted to use marijuana instead to deal with his chronic pain versus opioids.”
With the state facing an opioid crisis – 504 Mainers died in 2020 from drug overdoses, an increase of 33% over the previous year – it’s time to look at alternatives to traditional pain medication, she said.
But with marijuana still illegal at the federal level, Dillingham knows it likely won’t be easy to change laws around worker’s compensation. Still, she’s passionate about it and vows to “work this hard through committee.”
Dillingham is one of five key Maine lawmakers Spectrum News is highlighting this week in advance of the Jan. 5 legislative session. Others featured are Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham), Sen. Cathy Breen (D-Falmouth), Sen. Trey Stewart (R-Presque Isle) and Rep. Jeff Evangelos (independent from Friendship).
Another bill sponsored by Dillingham would allow the state to issue off-premise licenses for the sale of marijuana. For example, she said the license could allow the sale – but not use – of marijuana at fairs, festivals and farmer’s markets.
“A surprising number of older adults have told me they use an edible to help them sleep or for anxiety or arthritis,” she said. “They like not having to add more pills to their daily pills, but there’s a stigma around going into shops.”
Dillingham has one additional measure – a bill to clear up the regulations regarding the training required to perform microblading procedures. She said constituents have told her that they’ve received confusing guidance from the state, which in some instances seems to confuse microblading, a temporary eyebrow procedure, with tattooing eyebrows, a more permanent solution.
As the leader of the House Republicans, Dillingham said she looks back over her seven years in office feeling good about clearly communicating their goals. She said she wants the public to know that Republicans support education, affordable health care and prescription drugs, even if they disagree with Democrats on how to get there.
She’s hopeful Republicans will be able to take back control of the House in 2022, something they haven’t had since 2012. And she’d like to push for government to be more responsible, responsive and transparent.
During the height of the COVID-19 restrictions, she said Republicans were shut out and didn’t receive information about the data that went into decisions about shutdowns and declaring certain workers essential.
“I absolutely think I have been a minority leader who has made it clear I will passionately debate policy but I’m not going to personally attack my counterparts,” she said.